Although John Locke’s initial notable work didn’t get published until he was 57 years old and he hadn’t done anything that seemed to have had much influence during his life, his work eventually had a great impact on the writing of the Declaration of Independence (Powell, The Triumph of Liberty, p 19, 23). Similarly, Hugo Grotius, the 17th century legal scholar who provided the basis for modern international law, died feeling like an utter failure, never having had assurance about what he had been called to do. President Truman had some suspicion of what his call might be (Boller, Presidential Wives, p 315) while Mother Teresa had a clear sense of what the Lord had called her to do.
The Lord has created certain works for each of us (Eph 2:10, NLT-1986). Some will have a clearer sense of their call than others. Every individual is unique and has a particular function in Christ’s body, specific tasks only we can do precisely the way the Lord wants them done. We must not despair of the role God has appointed for us, be it great or ‘small’ in our eyes. He knows what is best and we should aim for that (1 Thess 5:15, NJB). If we aren’t sure what our call is, let us simply be led by His Spirit to do the next task He has assigned to us. Strung together over a lifetime, these become a call whether we grasp it or not.
We should be careful, then, to not be too harsh in evaluating our own or another’s life work. God may not have us produce much at all until we are in our twilight years – and even then, we may never know whether our work will have much effect. This was certainly true of John Locke. Yet, he was used to help bring forth something marvelous. Those who appear to be failures now, in God’s eyes may be great indeed. Let us not judge either ourselves or others harshly in this (Mt 7:2).
Instead of being timid, learn to be appropriately bold.